Category Archives: Christmas

Mammina and I are on the stretch run. A huge Christmas Eve dinner followed by a huge Christmas Day lunch (about to happen). But I take one moment to wish you all joy and happiness. Wherever you are, I hope you are warm and in the presence of loved ones. From Cream Puff and Family Continue Reading »

Well it’s been quite the year. They usually are. At this time last year, I was in Italy about to ring in the new year in the hills outside of Ascoli Piceno. This year, I am home with family, gathered around the table eating and drinking. The comforting things. While I had my share of Continue Reading »

I believe that if you’re a cookbook, this has to be the best time of the year. Everybody is talking about you (and in my case sometimes talking to you). You’re front and centre in the bookstore. More likely than not, either you or one of your cookbook friends are being wrapped in pretty paper Continue Reading »

I can’t quite believe we are less than 2 weeks from Christmas … how did this happen???? If you’re like me, you’re making that mad scramble to figure out how to fit it all in: the shopping, the decorating, the baking, the visiting and most important … the ENJOYING! If you love cookies and you Continue Reading »

I was telling someone the other day that on my “bucket list” is to one day take the entire month of December off of work. This is so I can finally have time and space to do all the things that I dream of doing at Christmas but never quite can find the time to Continue Reading »

I am back from an unbelievably beautiful holiday in Italy where my mom, my brother and I spent Christmas and New Year’s with my father’s family in Ascoli Piceno, Le Marche. We had such a beautiful time, filled with so much laughter and talk and of course … food! So. Much. Food. Being away from Continue Reading »

Very soon, I will be boarding a plane for a flight to Rome. I will be spending my very first Christmas outside Canada. I will be spending my holidays, along with my mother and brother, in the loving company of my father’s family in Ascoli Piceno. We’ve been planning this trip for months and even Continue Reading »

Wowza! What exactly happened to 2011? I feel like it was just yesterday that I was making all sorts of plans for 2011, imagining what the year ahead would hold. Well … here we are. Once again I find myself staring out at the horizon as a new year slowly starts to make itself known. Continue Reading »

December 1st is probably one of my favourite days of the year. Not only does it mark the end of November (always a tough month for my family), but it marks the beginning of the holiday season. I always give people fair warning. If you’re in my presence from December 1st onward you are more Continue Reading »

One more sleep to Santa!!! Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!! I have been up since 5:00 with Mamma Cream Puff and we’ve been busily cooking away. Actually, to be completely accurate, she’s been cooking away and I’ve been watching in awe. Seriously. My mother is a tank. She’s knocking things off like it’s nothing while it’s taken me almost Continue Reading »

As part of my ongoing desire to have more bread baking in my life, I’m delighted to bring you my choice for Day 10. That’s Elinor Klivans’ Fast Breads: 50 Recipes for Easy, Delicious Bread. Elinor Klivans is an accomplished baker and cookbook author. I’m happy to say I own many of her cookbooks and Continue Reading »

Don’t be afraid. What you see at the top of this post is not a science experiement gone wrong. Trust me. It is the beginning of what I hope will become a beautiful loaf of bread. If you have ever dreamt of baking delicious bread at home, join me. I give you Tartine Bread by Continue Reading »

Of all the months in the year, December is the one with the most parties. Sometimes it’s a relief when Christmas finally arrives because it means we can settle down to some beautiful meals and then … relax! Don’t get me wrong. I love the parties! I especially love the planning of the parties and Continue Reading »

Wow … we’re already at the halfway mark of the 12 Days of Cookbooks … hard to believe! There is never a shortage of Italian-themed cookbooks, especially at this time of year. Unfortunately, I find that many of them often disappoint for various reasons. Not so with Julia Della Croce‘s Italian Home Cooking: 125 Recipes Continue Reading »

While almost all of the cookbooks that you’ll see in my 12 Days of Cookbooks feature are books that are new to me in 2010, that is not the case with all of them. Case-in-point: Stonewall Kitchen Favorites: Delicious Recipes to Share with Family and Friends Every Day. This cookbook has been on my shelf Continue Reading »

While I’ve been to New York City several times, I have never been to Sarabeth’s. I was enormously pleased to find out that Sarabeth Levine was coming out with a cookbook called Sarabeth’s Bakery: From My Hands to Yours. I don’t know if it’s made things better or worse that I own this cookbook because Continue Reading »

It’s December 1st. For Cream Puff, that means Christmas is here. Christmas in all its glory, all its baking, all its music, all its cheer and all its splendor! I. LOVE. CHRISTMAS. Last year, come December, I had so many cookbooks to tell people about that I decided to talk about twelve of them in Continue Reading »

At this time of year, it’s very easy to become lost in the great big commercial machine that the holidays have become. So it’s precisely at this time of year that I like to look around and think that even though we live in a big city in a big province in a big country Continue Reading »

Christmas smells like spices. And oranges. And pine trees. And cold air. And butter. And warm bread. And candy canes. And pomegranate. And stockings. And glÃ¼hwein. And stars. Christmas smells like stars. It’s almost here … Ciao! Check out my article on glÃ¼hwein at The Daring Kitchen!